Only after standing there dazed and hearing the door open and shut three times did Taejoon belatedly realize that Yoon Seoh had fled to the bathroom. The arm he had reached out with dropped limply after losing its target.

“……”

The nape of the neck could still be brushed off somehow with the excuse that he had been aroused. It was common for Espers to be compared to beasts. But Yoon Seoh’s palm was not like that.

It had been crushed and scratched by something sharp, and he must have bled a lot at the time. If they had done guiding in the living room, there was no way such an injury could have happened.

Don’t tell me… had he unconsciously used his ability to hurt him?

It was easy enough to make water sharp. Or to make ice and roughen the surface. If he had used his ability while unconscious, Yoon Seoh’s injuries would not have been limited to one palm. They would have been on his arms, his legs, his chest, and maybe even his back.

Why the hell did you hide it? Don’t tell me you were afraid I’d feel sorry for you over this too?

If this was concern in its purest form, then what? If it wasn’t tangled up in complicated motives, but came from self-sacrifice?

“…Crazy.”

Just imagining it made Taejoon’s chest feel tight. If that assumption were true, he almost couldn’t believe such a foolish person existed in the world. Could someone really worry about others while failing to take care of their own body? A Guide worrying about an Esper, no less?

After rubbing his face with one hand, Taejoon sensed Yoon Seoh, who had gone into the bathroom, coming back out. A strange irritation flared up at once. He muttered a curse and strode forward.

Passing the kitchen back door, he opened the door leading to the bathroom hallway and saw a half-damp Yoon Seoh standing there.

“A, ah?”

Grabbing his wrist, Song Taejoon dragged him back into the living room. Mixed with frustration and annoyance, he had worked himself into a somewhat excited state. He had meant to ask why the hell he had hidden it, what that stupid worry meant, and how badly he had been hurt.

“…?”

A ragged piece of cloth draped over his wet hair came into view.

It was hard to call it a towel… While wondering why he was using something like that on his head, Taejoon realized it was made of the same material as the clothes Seoh was wearing.

Looking more closely, it was a small cloth about the size of two overlapped hands. The weave had come loose all over, and the edges were frayed, clearly torn off by force. Yoon Seoh was using that rag to wipe his wet hair and face.

Then the thought that suddenly occurred to him was, ‘How has Yoon Seoh been living here?’

This mansion had originally been a place to lock up Espers on the verge of rampage.

Song Taejoon remembered the first time he had stepped into it, before the house had been remodeled into its current shape.

Each room had been wrapped wall to wall in alloy made by an enhanced Esper, and yet it had still been crushed and gouged beyond recognition. A rampaging Esper would have used his ability however he pleased, so finding a place that wasn’t damaged had been harder.

Since it was a prison for Espers, there had naturally been no windows or wooden doors. There had been no living room or kitchen either. Everything had been renovated from scratch once it was designated as private lodging, just to make it look at least like a place where people lived.

But no matter how much this former Esper prison had been remodeled, could a “normal person” really live a daily life here?

When he had moved in, it had already been made presentable enough that he had not felt much lack or inconvenience.

From the beginning, it had not been prepared on the assumption that another person would be using the mansion with him. Even that had all been handled by Sungmin hyung, so Taejoon hadn’t personally touched most of it. Everything he needed was in his room, so he did not know where anything was, nor had he needed to know.

The only things he had personally paid attention to here were the fish tank and the living room, more or less.

Then what about the other places?

Outside of his own surroundings, had there really been anything here for Yoon Seoh to live with?

No, even if there hadn’t been, he would have brought his own things when he came here. He must have had the things he used at the Guide Center.

So even if it was lacking, he should have been able to manage somehow… but why was he using a scrap of cloth like a towel?

Taejoon looked over Yoon Seoh from head to toe in confusion and, with a flick of his hand, removed all the moisture from him. Seoh rubbed his own hair, surprised by how suddenly dry and fluffy he had become.

Then he carefully took the cloth that had been sitting on top of his head and hid it behind his back. Taejoon had already seen it, so he found it absurd that he was trying to hide it now.

But that was not the problem at the moment.

Frowning a few times in irritation, Taejoon stared at Yoon Seoh, who was only watching his mood.

Since he had hidden it all this time, asking would probably not get a proper answer. And looking at the arm Taejoon was holding, Seoh had clenched his fist tightly to avoid showing his palm, only exposing the back of his hand. Even that was mostly hidden by his sleeve.

With another frown, Taejoon yanked Seoh’s arm straight and flipped it before he could react. In that position, he rolled up the sleeve, and the hidden wounds were fully exposed.

“Huh? W-wait.”

Seoh, panicking, hurriedly tried to pull his arm back, but Taejoon was not about to let him. He kept the sleeve pushed up to the upper arm and silently examined the injuries.

They had definitely been caused by something sharp, but they did not seem to have been caused by his ability. If they had been, they wouldn’t have ended up this lightly. They were not trivial now, but if he had truly been hit by an Esper’s ability, the skin would have been torn open and split apart, the inside of it a complete mess.

It was a relief that it wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but that still didn’t mean he could conclude the one who caused it was not him.

Apparently realizing he could no longer hide it, Yoon Seoh lowered his head in resignation.

“Where did these injuries come from?”

“……”

“Don’t tell me I made these too?”

Yoon Seoh did not answer. But that was enough of an answer already. How could it have gotten like this? No matter how hard he thought, nothing came to mind.

He wanted a more detailed explanation, but that seemed distant for now, so he thought it would be better to first check how bad the injured area was.

“Let me see.”

“…It’s okay.”

“Maybe you’re okay with it, but I’m not.”

As expected, Yoon Seoh did not seem willing to cooperate. In that case, he would have to do it himself.

Before Seoh could react, Taejoon grabbed the hem of his shirt and yanked it up in one motion. The marks all over his chest and stomach were no different from those on his palm. Taejoon let out a humorless laugh, then turned him around to check his back too.

“Huh?”

Everything had happened in the blink of an eye, so Seoh could not even hide the injuries and could only react stupidly. In the meantime, Taejoon realized that the wounds extended not only across his back, but further down, all the way to his lower body.

Wasn’t this a bit much?

Taejoon glared at Seoh, who was scrambling to cover himself.

“You were going to leave them like this?”

“……”

“Why? Were you afraid I’d worry again? Or are you planning to go around saying Song Taejoon made you hurt yourself and didn’t even treat you?”

If he had invented a story and spread weird rumors, he would have approved of that instead. If that were the case, then he should really not have gotten hurt.

The guilt he had felt for ignoring the shoulder wound on purpose now started stabbing at him belatedly through the marks left on Seoh’s back. It felt like he had suddenly come face to face with an uncomfortable truth, a reality he had tried not to see.

“No! I-I wasn’t trying to spread anything… This was an accident, sort of.”

“An accident?”

Yoon Seoh still seemed bothered by the fact that his clothes had been lifted, and tried to tug them back down. But Taejoon slapped his hand away coldly. It was a silent demand not to resist uselessly and to explain. Seoh slumped his shoulders and reluctantly explained what had happened.

“That day… I fell asleep in the back garden.”

“The back garden?”

“…Yes.”

“And then?”

“At the time, the Esper named Song Taejoon… requested guiding.”

Taejoon’s brow twisted beautifully. To put it nicely, it was a request, but there was no doubt he had simply charged in without warning. The back garden? So he had been attacked while sleeping in the back garden. Why was that place…?

Replaying the situation in his head, Taejoon suddenly remembered the state of the back garden.

A small pond, the chair Seoh had been sitting in. And… the crushed stones spread across the entire ground.

In an instant, Taejoon’s eyes shook violently.

“Those injuries happened then… It was an accident.”

“……”

“…If I’d been in the mansion, it would’ve been fine. Ah, but it’s a lot better now. I put medicine on it too.”

Taejoon felt a dull ache in his head. Seeing Seoh emphasize that he was fine again made him realize something had gone badly wrong.

“So… you don’t need to worry about it.”

Seoh tried to pull his clothes back down again, but this time Taejoon could not stop him. Taejoon dragged a hand down his face and let out a long sigh. After standing there for a while, he took out his phone and called someone.

As soon as the other person answered after only a few rings, he got straight to the point.

“Sungmin hyung, is Lee Jaewoon there right now?”

“Jaewoon? Why?”

“Send him to me.”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

“He’s at the center now, right?”

“He is, but why? What happened?”

Without answering the repeated questions from Park Sungmin, Taejoon said, unable to hide his irritation,

“Because I need him. Send Jaewoon, and you get ready too. There’s someone who needs treatment.”

“Treatment, what? Don’t tell me! Did Yoon Seoh’s guide get hurt?”

“Yes.”

“How did that happen? Ah… Taejoon, I told you to go easy!”

He wanted to argue that he had not been hurt just now, but since he was the one who had caused the accident, he swallowed his rising irritation and forced it down.

“I’ll explain later, so just send Jaewoon first.”

“Alright, I’ll send him right away. But you…”

Having gotten what he wanted, Taejoon ignored Park Sungmin’s barrage of questions and ended the call. When the phone rang again, he rejected it and switched it to silent. He could hear the lecture later. Right now, the priority was to prepare quickly and go to the center.

He shoved the phone back into his pocket and said,

“We’re going to get you treated, so get ready and come out.”

“…Yes.”

Seoh nodded without refusing. Getting treatment would obviously be good, but he also needed to go outside to contact the Guide Center.

Yoon Seoh watched Song Taejoon head upstairs, then walked off to find the phone he had not been able to use for a while.

Soft ripples of reflected water moved quietly through the living room.